Turkey is engaging in talks with the United States about constructing large-scale nuclear power plants and small modular reactors (SMRs), according to a senior Turkish Energy Ministry official on Tuesday.
“The USA is showing serious interest in Turkey’s goal of increasing its nuclear energy capacity and building new power plants,” said Yusuf Ceylan at a conference on nuclear power plants. He mentioned that discussions could involve either existing power plant sites or new locations.
Ceylan confirmed, “We are negotiating with the USA for both large-scale power plants and small modular reactors. This is a statement of intent.” Last month, U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Jeff Flake told Reuters that Ankara had approached the U.S. and others about building SMRs. “We’re working with them to try to lessen their dependency on Russia in whatever ways we can,” Flake added.
Negotiations are also ongoing with South Korea and Russia for a second nuclear power plant in Sinop, on the Black Sea, and with China’s SPIC for a third plant in the Thrace region of northwest Turkey.
Meanwhile, the construction of Turkey’s first 4,800 MW nuclear power plant by Russia’s Rosatom continues at Akkuyu in the Mediterranean region. Turkey aims to build three four-reactor nuclear plants and supplement them with SMRs, targeting a total generation capacity of 20,000 MW to diversify its electricity production mix.
